Water did much of Hurricane Milton’s damage in Florida — but unlike Helene just two weeks earlier, it wasn’t just from the record storm surge that swept over Gulf Coast beaches and communities. Milton was a massive rainmaker — overflowing canals, rivers and lakes and flooding homes and neighborhoods from North Tampa to Orlando.

Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. EDT as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph sustained winds amid a flurry of tornadoes it spawned. It caused severe flooding and power outages for millions of people in the south Tampa Bay.

A breakdown of the river and lake flood stages we hear about during heavy rain events, and what they mean to you.

Residents in Florida are still struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Milton with runoff from the heavy rainfall making its way into rivers and flooding inland communities. More than one million customers across the state are still without power in addition to gas shortages across the region.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers ride a flats boat through the flooded N 12th St in North Tampa, on Thursday, October 10, 2024, a day after Hurricane Milton crossed Florida’s Gulf Coast.